China ‘princeling’ to visit US

Xi Jinping, the man tipped to be China’s next leader, will meet US President
Barack Obama
at the White House on February 14 in an attempt to strengthen ties between the two countries, which have differences on a range of trade and security issues.

The visit will give Mr Obama a chance to get to know China’s next president better before the Communist Party begins its leadership transition this year, providing an opportunity to set the tone of relations that have been strained by worries about Beijing’s currency policy and Washington’s recently unveiled strategy to bolster its military presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Mr Xi’s visit will also include stops in California and Iowa and follows last year’s visit by US Vice-President
Joe Biden
to Beijing and Chengdu, which built on the improved relations laid down when Chinese President
Hu Jintao
visited Washington early in 2011.

Mr Xi, who is 58 and considered a “princeling" because his father was a revolutionary leader and a senior member of the party, first visited the US in 1985 when he was a junior official from Hebei province.

Mr Obama has maintained the pressure on Beijing to do more to help address global economic imbalances, specifically targeting the perceived undervaluation of China’s currency, the yuan.

He was sharply critical of Beijing’s economic policies at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Hawaii in November, saying China should act like a “grown-up" economy.

China has responded to calls to allow the yuan to appreciate, with the unit rising 4.8 per cent against the US dollar last year. The US Treasury declined to name China as a currency manipulator in its semi-annual report of foreign exchange policies released in late December.

Beijing has been critical of the Obama administration’s “pivot" towards Asia as Washington re­assesses strategic priorities in the light of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down.

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The US has been accused of having a Cold War mentality and trying to contain China’s rise with plans to bolster its presence in the region, plans that include basing more marines in Darwin.

The Oaba administration has also tried to persuade China to partake in sanctions against Iran. A visit earlier this month to Beijing by US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner failed to get China to agree to sanctions or limit its oil imports from Iran.

While Beijing has mainly let the state media do its talking for it, Mr Xi has underscored Chjina’s focus in peaceful development and mutual trust.

“In dealing with major and sensitive issues that concern each side’s core interests, we must certainly abide by a spirit of mutual respect and handle them prudently, and by no means can we let relations again suffer major interference and ructions," Mr Xi said in a speech last week.